Lindsey's Story

As just a citizen in the environmental community, just one person can’t make a large difference in the world. However, many people can make a difference in the world if they work together. My role will be not only doing things that help the environment in little ways, but telling and showing other people how to make a difference. I can be a leader and show others how to do things that will save the planet. If those people are leaders as well, then soon everyone will know how to make a difference in the planet. One big way we can make a difference is taking shorter showers. Many people take showers that are ten to fifteen minutes long. With millions of people taking showers that are 10-15 minutes long, the amount of water that is being used is phenomenal. Many people think that if they lower shower time to 5 minutes, they are doing a lot to save the environment. In the U.S. Navy there is limited amounts of water on a ship. If a ship must stay at sea for many months without coming into port, the water is precious. Sailors in the Navy must take showers that are 2 minutes long. The amount of water used in a 2 minute shower is drastically shorter than the water used in a 5 minute shower. If everyone in the United States takes a 2 minutes shower, we will save millions of gallons of water. We won’t save the world by taking 2 minutes showers. We must carry out many more acts like this in order to save the planet. When we were in Mexico, we went tide pooling in a rocky area where the staff had been earlier in the year. When they were there, there were almost no hints that man had visited. When we visited however, the area was decimated by construction vehicles, trenches and foundations for houses. Fortunately, the tide pools were still in existence. For now. With people planning to live there in the near future, they will probably prefer a peaceful, sandy beach over some rugged tide pools. So, they will destroy the tide pools so that they can have a beach where they can play in the sand. Little will they realize that those tide pools are the last ones in San Carlos, Mexico. If we are going to save the planet, we must stop destroying precious ecosystems that are home to many species. Tiny forms of life in the oceans are crucial in the survival of the planet. The ocean creates a huge part of the oxygen that all of us need to survive. If all of the plankton in the oceans died, the oxygen levels in the world would go down by a huge amount. If oxygen levels went down, life on earth would die very quickly. If all life on earth died, then, well…that would be bad.Many cities, especially in countries where sewage regulations are not as strict simply dump their raw sewage into the oceans. All sorts of nasty micro organisms spilling into the oceans can kill the plankton. If the plankton die, the carbon dioxide levels that are taken into the ocean go down. And once again, when oxygen levels go down, we die.It may seem that destroying a tide pool or taking a 5 minute shower instead of a 2 minute one may not do a whole lot to destroy the planet. Sure, if only person does it, it won’t make a difference, but when millions of people do it, the impact is huge. We all need to be leaders and tell others about what we can do to change the planet for the better.

As just a citizen in the environmental community, just one person can’t make a large difference in the world. However, many people can make a difference in the world if they work together. My role will be not only doing things that help the environment in little ways, but telling and showing other people how to make a difference. I can be a leader and show others how to do things that will save the planet. If those people are leaders as well, then soon everyone will know how to make a difference in the planet. One big way we can make a difference is taking shorter showers. Many people take showers that are ten to fifteen minutes long. With millions of people taking showers that are 10-15 minutes long, the amount of water that is being used is phenomenal. Many people think that if they lower shower time to 5 minutes, they are doing a lot to save the environment. In the U.S. Navy there is limited amounts of water on a ship. If a ship must stay at sea for many months without coming into port, the water is precious. Sailors in the Navy must take showers that are 2 minutes long. The amount of water used in a 2 minute shower is drastically shorter than the water used in a 5 minute shower. If everyone in the United States takes a 2 minutes shower, we will save millions of gallons of water. We won’t save the world by taking 2 minutes showers. We must carry out many more acts like this in order to save the planet. When we were in Mexico, we went tide pooling in a rocky area where the staff had been earlier in the year. When they were there, there were almost no hints that man had visited. When we visited however, the area was decimated by construction vehicles, trenches and foundations for houses. Fortunately, the tide pools were still in existence. For now. With people planning to live there in the near future, they will probably prefer a peaceful, sandy beach over some rugged tide pools. So, they will destroy the tide pools so that they can have a beach where they can play in the sand. Little will they realize that those tide pools are the last ones in San Carlos, Mexico. If we are going to save the planet, we must stop destroying precious ecosystems that are home to many species. Tiny forms of life in the oceans are crucial in the survival of the planet. The ocean creates a huge part of the oxygen that all of us need to survive. If all of the plankton in the oceans died, the oxygen levels in the world would go down by a huge amount. If oxygen levels went down, life on earth would die very quickly. If all life on earth died, then, well…that would be bad.Many cities, especially in countries where sewage regulations are not as strict simply dump their raw sewage into the oceans. All sorts of nasty micro organisms spilling into the oceans can kill the plankton. If the plankton die, the carbon dioxide levels that are taken into the ocean go down. And once again, when oxygen levels go down, we die.It may seem that destroying a tide pool or taking a 5 minute shower instead of a 2 minute one may not do a whole lot to destroy the planet. Sure, if only person does it, it won’t make a difference, but when millions of people do it, the impact is huge. We all need to be leaders and tell others about what we can do to change the planet for the better.

The most fun thing that we did during Earth Camp was go snorkeling in the Sea of Cortez. Early in the morning, we boarded a ship called the Primero El Postre, which means ‘First the Dessert’. We steamed out to a place near some rocks and jumped in. The water was about 30 feet deep, so we swam toward the rocks, and started seeing fish. As the water got shallower, we saw lots more fish in schools. There were a couple of urchins, but the most interesting thing we saw was a baby Morey Eel poking his head out of some rocks we were examining. The next place we went to is called Catalina Cove. The water there was much clearer, but was choppier. We swam towards a place where the water was shallower, and where more fishseem to congregate. In Catalina Cove there were even more fish and life. There were spots in the rocks where there were hundreds of sea urchins. Some of them were 4 inches or larger, while some were much smaller than any I have ever seen. Catalina Cove’s schools of fish are much larger than the first place. Usually, the fish were only the size of my pinky, and there were thousands, possibly tens of thousands of fish swimming in harmony (Grunts and Blemies). There were a lot more rocks in Catalina Cove, and as the water got choppier and choppier as the day progressed, it became harder to watch a certain fish for very long.Finally, the water was just too choppy for it to be totally safe for us to be there. So, we headed back to the boat. On the way back, Julie, one of the counselors got stung by a Portuguese Man o’ War. Having been stung by the same kind myself earlier in the trip, I sped back to the boat without getting stung. Another person got stung on the way back as well. Since I was one of the first people back onto the boat, I got the jellyfish remedies ready (aka the goop). And no, we didn’t use the old method of urinating on the jellyfish sting!Fortunately, the jellyfish ‘victims’ were all right and they recovered very quickly. On the way back to the marina, we caught plankton. The next day, we looked at the plankton through microscopes. They are quite fascinating creatures!

On the way down to San Carlos, we stayed at a sheep ranch in Magdalena. There were sheep wandering all around the whole area. The gentleman who greeted us was very nice, and he was holding a lamb, that probably had just been born a few days before. The man gave all of the girls in our group a kiss on the cheek, a typical Sonoran greeting. All of the girls found this quite funny, as well as the boys. At the ranch there were also many dogs. The dogs were all running free, and they would frequently run off into the desert, barking at something. The ranch was right below some hills in which there were lots of Organ Pipe cactus. We walked/stumbled/stepped in thorns up the hill to where the Organ Pipe cacti were. We were able to find a few fruits, and they were very tasty. Some of the other students chose another way to the cacti, which actually turned out to be the wrong way. Their route took them through a wash, and they ran across a dead bull in the middle of the wash. I made my way/stepped in more spiny things/fell down the hill to the dead bull. Something must have happened to my brain, because I didn't notice the horrific smell at first. Finally it hit me and I almost fell over dead.

The food at the ranch was the best of the whole camp. We also had Horchata, also known as Mexican Water. Horchata is a sweet drink that is made from rice. I was a little hesitant at first, but when I had some, I liked it. The ranch owner showed us a little puppy that he got the day before. He was a little tiny puppy, and everyone was holding him and petting him a lot. During the night, there was a big storm. Since the roof was made of corrugated metal, the sound was horrific. The guys were on the top floor, about 5 feet from the noise, so it was amazingly noisy. Upstairs in the boy's area, it was very cold during the night because the air conditioner was blowing on our beds the whole night. In the morning, as we were expressing how cold it was during the night, the girls told us that it was extremely hot where they were sleeping.